In almost every congregation, Easter is the most attended Sunday morning of the year. Many congregations feature additional services to provide these religious consumers with the greatest number of options possible and to ensure that there is room (especially parking and seating) for everyone. Most parishes seek to do what they can to ensure visitors have a positive experience and are likely to visit again. Toward that end, I suggest: Providing an extravagant welcome is not Read More …
A Few Thoughts on Who Jesus Is (#0341)
Yesterday the United Church of Christ's Stillspeaking Writers' Group shared fourteen thoughts about who Jesus is. Three of their thoughts spoke to me: Jesus is the one who makes God real for me Jesus is the one who calls me out to the other on behalf of myself In Jesus, God shared in the kind of life you and I live So What? As you continue on your holy week journey what are some of your thoughts about who Jesus is? Has some aspect of who Jesus is become more clear for you in Read More …
Thursday + Friday = Maximum Facebook Engagement (#0340)
Buddy Media released "Strategies For Effective Facebook Wall Posts: A Statistical Review" earlier this month, which amounts to a comprehensive analysis of more than 200 of their clients' Facebook pages over a two week period. The full report (available as a free download after registering) features fifteen pages of information including a detailed breakdown by industry of the best days to post. Overall, for all industries considered, the best days for engagement are Thursday and Read More …
Should Clergy-Scholars Lead the Church? (#0339)
Donald Miller is the author of several books including A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing my Life (2009) and Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality (2003). To connect with him, read his blog, like him on Facebook, or follow him on Twitter. Earlier this month he posted, "Should the Church be Led by Teachers and Scholars?" In the article he questions the centuries old norm of the church being led by Read More …
Church and Academy: Healthy Interdependence? (#0338)
J. R. Daniel Kirk, Assistant Professor of New Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary, recently wrote multiple blog posts about the divide between the church and the academy. In "Church and Academy Need Each Other" he writes: . . . the church and the academy need each other–and we sometimes reflect this interdependence in ways that we are unaware of. . . . let me say why the academy needs the church. The church always remembers what the academy too often forgets: the Read More …
Review of God’s Century (#0337)
Meet the Authors Monica Duffy Toft has taught at Harvard since 2004. Currently she serves as Associate Professor of Public Policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government and as Director of the Initiative on Religion in International Affairs. Her research interests include international relations, religion, nationalism and ethnic conflict, civil and interstate wars, the relationship between demography and national security, and military and strategic planning. For more Read More …
Tax Day Responsibility and Reform (#0336)
Today, Monday, April 18, 2011, is tax day. We all got an extra three days to file our federal returns this year thanks to Emancipation Day, an obscure Washington, D.C., holiday that celebrates the freeing of slaves in the district (the holiday fell on Saturday but was observed on Friday). By the end of the day, however, it is our responsibility to have filed a return or an extension. Shane Claiborne is a founder of The Simple Way, an advocate of non-violence, and a popular Read More …
American Sex Ed is Atypical and Ineffective (#0335)
The documentary Let's Talk About Sex is generating considerable discussion. It aired on TLC last weekend and the DVD was released a few days later. Directed by James Houston, an Australian fashion photographer currently based in New York, the 62 minute offering shows how very different sexuality is when comparing American teens to teens from other nations. While American teens and European teens become sexually active at about the same age the results are very Read More …
The Nature of the Church in the 21st Century (#0334)
Cynthia Holder Rich is currently the Interim Pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Muskegon, MI and serves on the Special Committee on the Nature of the Church in the 21st Century of the Presbyterian Church (USA). In the latter role she posted five questions, which were developed by the committee: What is your vision for the church in the 21st century? What characteristics will draw the great diversity (racial ethnic, age, gender, etc.) of our country into our community of Read More …
Returning to Parish Ministry (#0333)
After my first time away from parish ministry since the early days of seminary, I will be returning to that role effective May 1 when I assume the role of Director of Adult Education at Naples United Church of Christ. Some of my regular readers may be familiar with that name as I have written several times about my volunteer leadership experiences in this community of faith, especially in leading worship (i.e. sermon manuscript or other recent materials: 1, 2, 3, 4). Read More …